If you are a fan of Historical Fiction, then this is a book that you will fall in love with. This is my first time reading a Philippa Gregory novel and as a student of History, I would like to take the time to honestly applaud her for taking the time to bring the average person into the pages of History. This concept departs from many traditional Historical Fiction novels which focus on the layers of characters who are often in the thick of the lives of those famous or infamous people that we are aware of from our studies of World History.
This book focuses on the lives of the ordinary people of an area of Sussex England known as the Tidelands. The central character is Alinor is a poor fisherman’s wife who has recently lost her husband and has been forced to use her skills of herbs and midwifery to make an honest living. However, it will ultimately be these her skills as an herbalist which spur the constant rumors of witchcraft to swirl around her throughout the novel and ultimately climax in the cliffhanger.
Alinor, her two children and her brother, Ned are the family at the heart of this story. We can live life through their eyes as Gregory unfolds the impact the English Civil War, and Puritan zealousness of Britain in 1648 will have on their lives. The nation is at war with itself and ultimately with the changes which are being brought about by Oliver Cromwell and the story is made the richer by being able to view it through the eyes and life of the ordinary people in England.
But Alinor’s fortunes are destined to change when she meets James Summer, a disguised Catholic priest who has been summoned by Tideland’s local lord William. However, Alinor soon learns that James is a spy who has been sent by the English court which is exiled in France to save King Charles. While Alinor is caught between Ned who is a vocal supporter of Cromwell and James who is a supporter of the monarchy, James is determined to weave his way into her life by working hard to establish a patronage with Lord William and ultimately ensures a decent future for Alinor’s son, Rob.
Despite the societal and differences of lineage which James and Alinor face, each will be drawn deeper and deeper into each other’s lives throughout this novel and this makes the cliffhanger at the end the novel even the more bitter sweet for those of us who are in hope for that happy ending. Although the happy ending is not provided at the end of Tidelands, hope remains eternal as we remember that this is the first book in a series which from this first book will slowly go along the path to happiness.